Lind-Ritzville shuts down Warden, looks to playoffs

RITZVILLE - The Lind-Ritzville Broncos used a stout defense and a balanced offensive attack to defeat the visiting Warden Cougars 41-13 in a non-league football game on Friday night.

The Broncos got first-half touchdowns from four different players in building a 26-0 lead, and held the Cougars' offense to well under 100 yards of production through three quarters of play.

After the Broncos made it 26-0 with 3:43 to play in the first half on a 1-yard Cory Whitmore touchdown reception, the Cougars showed they weren't going down without a fight.

Warden senior Arturo Martinez brought the Cougar sideline to life with an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that made the score 26-6. It was one of several big plays on the night for Martinez, who also had an interception in the third quarter to go along with 42 yards rushing on nine carries.

"He had a great performance," Warden head coach Erik Skone said. "He showed up to play."

The Cougars failed to convert the extra point attempt, but followed their score by recovering an onside kick and looked ready to get back into the game.

The Broncos' defense would have something to say about that though, as they blasted through the Warden offensive line on the second play of the drive and sacked Cougars' quarterback Scott Phillips for a 14-yard loss. The play seemed to take away what momentum the Cougars had built from the kickoff return, and the Broncos would control the game until late in the fourth quarter when their starters were done for the night.

"Most impressive tonight was our defense," Lind-Ritzville head coach Greg Whitmore said of his group that is allowing just 12.1 points per game this season and has given up only 27 first-half points all year.

The Broncos' defensive front gave the Warden offense fits throughout the evening, regularly getting into the Cougars' backfield and stopping plays before they could develop. In addition to limiting the Cougars to a single offensive touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the Broncos had two sacks, six tackles for loss and recovered two fumbles.

For the Cougars, the defense played hard, but was at times overpowered by the Broncos' experienced offensive front. One bright spot in the Cougars' defensive lineup was Ben Bisnett, who showed good lateral movement from his defensive line position to deliver several punishing tackles to the Lind-Ritzville ball carriers. The Warden senior lineman also had a highlight on offense, recovering a Cougars' fumble and advancing it 14 yards for a first down in the third quarter.

Lind-Ritzville's offensive line also played well, according to Whitmore, as the Broncos ran for 180 yards and four touchdowns against the Cougars' defense. Isaiah Grant led the Broncos with 74 yards rushing on 13 carries, including touchdown runs of 6 and 3 yards.

Despite being down 41-6, the Cougars never quit against the playoff-bound Broncos. With less than five minutes to play in the game, Warden put together an 81-yard scoring drive capped by a 26-yard Robert Pruneda touchdown run.

"I hand it to Warden," Whitmore remarked after the game. "One reason we like to play them is they're always tough kids and they never quit."

While the late season non-league game will have no effect on playoff positioning for the eighth-ranked Broncos (6-2), Whitmore stressed the importance of a good performance against Warden.

"Even though it was a non-league game, it was an important one," Whitmore said. "We want to start building momentum into the playoffs."

Should the Broncos take care of business against the Liberty Lancers (4-4, 1-4) at home this Friday, it appears the playoffs will open with a familiar foe in the Asotin Panthers. The Broncos were defeated 14-13 in the opening round of the 2006 state playoffs by the eventual state champions from Asotin, and the Panthers defeated Lind-Ritzville 14-6 earlier this season in a non-league game.

"It's as tough a first-round opponent as you want," Whitmore said of the Panthers. "If we can get by that one, we're in pretty good shape."

While the Broncos have lost both their recent meetings with the Panthers, both games were played in Asotin. This year's potential playoff matchup would be held in Ritzville, giving the Broncos the all-important home-field advantage.

Lind-Ritzville has made some minor adjustments to its lineup and schemes in the past few weeks in preparation for playoff action, but according to Whitmore the Broncos are now locked in on both sides of the ball and ready for the postseason.

"These last couple weeks, we've tweaked some things," Whitmore said. "The tweaking is done. You're not going to see a lot of changes from us."

For the Cougars, who dropped to 1-8 on the season, the goal will be a strong showing in their final game of the season this Friday at home against the Columbia-Burbank Coyotes. Beyond that, the Cougars will look ahead to the 2008 season.

"We had a decent week of practice," Skone said of the days leading up to the game with the Broncos. "It stinks to be on the losing end of it, but there are still a lot of kids out there having fun."